S.Amdt. 6666

This amendment, known as the American Biotechnology Competitiveness Act, aims to add a new division to bill S. 4784. Its purpose is to enhance U.S. leadership in biotechnology while managing the risks associated with rapid advances in the field.

The amendment focuses on the following key areas:

Biosecurity and Oversight

• It requires the Secretary of Commerce to create regulations for covered entities (those who sell synthetic nucleic acids or synthesis equipment) to screen orders and verify customer identities.
• It establishes a list of sequences of concern to prevent the creation of pathogens with pandemic potential.
• It mandates a conformity assessment system, which includes auditing and "red-teaming" (adversarial testing) to ensure companies are following screening rules.
• It directs the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to assess and streamline biosecurity authorities across the Federal Government to remove redundancies and close gaps.

Technical Innovation and Testing

• It creates a biotechnology governance testing program to securely test new tools and innovations in biosecurity and biosafety.
• It tasks the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology with developing best practices and technical standards for screening protocols.

National Programmable Cloud Laboratories Network

• It establishes a Network of up to 6 nodes (labs) that use robotics and artificial intelligence to allow for secure, remote experimentation.
• It authorizes $30 million annually from fiscal year 2026 through 2030 to support this network.
• The network aims to reduce research costs, improve collaboration between the government and private sector, and advance the domestic industrial base for scientific automation.
• This specific network is set to terminate on September 30, 2031.